There was a large group of teenage boys behind me on the bus this morning. They started laughing at me as soon as they sat down, but I could hear one voice of dissent. Instead of laughing, he was quietly reasoning with his friends, saying things like, “I don’t see what’s funny”, “Imagine if it was your mum, or sister”, “You lot are being rude”, “It could be your family.”

After listening to all this for a few minutes I turned to the group and said, “I don’t know which of you it is, but someone’s speaking a lot of sense. Whoever it is, you’re very strong to stand up to your mates. Thank you.”

One of the boys reached over to his friend, put his hand on his shoulder and said, “She’s speaking to you.”